Jonathan’s Big Breakup

If you had told me the upheaval that could be caused in a household by a missing stuffed bear a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have believed you. But when Bear went missing a month or so ago, it was heartbreaking to listen to Jonathan laying in his crib whimpering and quietly calling out “Bear?” “Bear?” Luckily, that only lasted a couple of nights. It was still a struggle to get him to bed for a bit after that, but he started carrying around his “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight” T-Rex and we figured it would do while we frantically searched for a replacement for the now-discontinued Carter’s bear.

Then, miraculously, we found bear!! Sure that this discovery would be met with uncontained joy when we shared it with Jonathan, I got positioned with my camera as Miriam prepared to reunite Jonathan with his lost love. But when presented with Bear, I could almost hear the thought balloon that appeared over Jonathan’s head. “Look, no hard feelings, but I’ve moved on. Really, it’s not you, it’s me. I’ve found someone else.”

What Jonathan actually said was, “no way!” He shoved Bear aside, grabbed up his dinosaur, and walked off to play.